Leave It to the Experts
From ATF “overreach” to University Presidents to mock Congressional investigations, America’s love/hate relationship with experts is turning up political heat.
Individual freedom is at stake.
Why do we despise the very class of professions we depend on to regulate and guide our livelihood, manage our health care, alert us of danger and injustice? This past month, expert “authorities” are facing censure, from former Infectious Diseases Research Chief, Dr. Fauci, to current Attorney General Merrick Garland to university presidents Claudine Gay and Liz McGill.
The sudden revulsion of experts and dismissal of their work has political repercussions for America’s future. Two noted writers have tracked this revulsion: Michael Lewis, (“The Fifth Estate,” 2018) (1) and George Packer (“Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal, “2021). (2)
There is more than ‘politics’ in play: a Judge in Texas questions the review process of the FDA in order to block a medication which manages women’s and family’s health; a Congressional caucus votes to cite the Attorney General for “weaponizing” the very evidentiary process their colleagues’ delayed adjudications are benefitting from.
It’s as if there were a palpable conspiracy behind every research and evidentiary achievement. Experts are perceived as “bad actors”: their…
